Music Notes: Steven Seagal Sings

Forget the Fugees. Wyclef Jean's new musical venture is expected to be with beefy actor Steven Seagal.

The odd pairing is based on their friendship. Seagal describes Jean as one of his "closest" friends. The planned album will feature hip-hop and R&B songs, but no raps.

Seagal's latest kung-fu flick, Exit Wounds, has the martial arts actor as a police detective researching a conspiracy. Along the way he teams up with a crime lord played by rapper DMX.

"I love hip-hop," says Seagal, who thinks the film employs a logical pairing. "The marriage of kung fu and hip-hop and the Japanese, Chinese, hip-hop — [are] going to serve altogether."

DMX just finished up a real-life jail term; he served 11 days for drug possession and driving without a license.

What was it like working with the chart-topping rapper? Seagal describes DMX as "a gentleman" who was "reflective and thoughtful."

Gangsta Madonna

Pop superstar Madonna, who changes personas as quickly as the rest of us change socks, is now recasting herself as an outlaw in the video for her song "What It Feels Like For a Girl." It's directed by her new husband, Guy Ritchie, who has directed comic-gangster movies such as Snatch.

In the video, Madonna is reportedly seen stealing cars, robbing an ATM and pointing a weapon at a police officer. She caps it off by killing herself by chrashing a car into a pole.

The violence is apparently being deemed too graphic for young audiences in England. An insider at British MTV says it will only air the spot after 10 p.m. No word on the planned airtime in the States.

Ringo's Road Trip

The former Beatles drummer has lined up a new cast of characters for his summer touring All-Starr Band.

A press release for the tour says Starr will also bring along two Beatles tunes that were left out of past tours: "Octupus's Garden" and "Don't Pass Me By."

The full tour list has not been announced yet, but dates will include July 26 in Toronto and Sept. 1 in Las Vegas.

Moreover

The Backstreet Boys are inviting all their fans to an upcoming concert. They'll offer a free Yahoo! Webcast from a concert in Mexico on March 23 … The Cranberries head back into the studio next month in Dublin to record their fifth album … Aerosmith's new album, Just Push Play, is off to a strong start. It debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, just behind The Dave Matthews Band's Everyday.

ABC Radio and ABCNEWS.com's Buck Wolf and Nancy Chandross contributed to this report.